I wish to inform the Deputy that the provision of legal aid falls within two categories, i.e criminal legal aid and civil legal aid. The following is the position in respect of each category:
Criminal Legal Aid
Under the Criminal Justice (Legal Aid) Act 1962, the Courts, through the judiciary, are responsible for the granting of legal aid. An applicant for legal aid must establish to the satisfaction of the Court that his/her means are insufficient to enable him/her to pay for legal representation him/herself. The Court must also be satisfied that, by reason of the gravity of the charge or exceptional circumstances, it is essential in the interests of justice that the applicant should have legal aid.
I am informed that the number of applications and details of cases in which legal aid is refused is not readily available and the necessary search of records would require a disproportionate use of resources. The expenditure for each of the past 10 years is set out in the table below along with the number of legal aid certificates granted by the District Court
Year
|
Expenditure
|
Number of certificates Granted
|
2002
|
€28.880m
|
27,241
|
2003
|
€37.353m
|
30,060
|
2004
|
€34.140m
|
figure unavailable
|
2005
|
€40.208m
|
36,423
|
2006
|
€42.093m
|
41,582
|
2007
|
€46.365m
|
46,620
|
2008
|
€55.297m
|
55,265
|
2009
|
€60.338m
|
55,664
|
2010
|
€56.544m
|
55,412
|
2011
|
€56.116m
|
54,092
|
Civil Legal Aid
The Legal Aid Board (LAB) is the independent statutory body which provides legal aid in civil cases. I should however point out that civil legal aid is not free and clients of the Board are required to pay a contribution to avail of legal services and may be liable to pay the Board's costs in certain cases. The criteria for determining if a person qualifies for civil legal aid are set out in the Civil Legal Aid Act, 1995, and accompanying Regulations. The two main criteria are the financial eligibility test and the merits test. In order to be financially eligible for legal services a person's disposable income cannot be over €18,000 and disposable capital cannot be over €320,000. The reckonable allowances to calculate disposable income and disposable capital are set out in the Regulations. The qualifying allowances are set out in detail on the Board's website, www.legalaidboard.ie.
In addition, the Act also specifies certain criteria to be met in respect of the merits and nature of the case. In brief, a person can only receive legal aid for a case that (s)he would be likely to pay for if (s)he had the means; the person must have grounds to institute/defend or be a party to the case; the person must have reasonable prospects of success in the case and the granting of legal aid must be reasonable in all of the circumstances of the case. In addition, certain types of cases are excluded under the Act. These merits criteria are set out in detail in Sections 24-28 of the Act, as amended.
Whilst I have made enquiries with the Board in respect of the statistical information requested, I am informed that it is not possible for the Board to provide all of the information sought in the format requested. Information which can be made available to the Deputy without placing an undue administrative burden on the Board is set out below. This includes the overall number of applications, the number of legal aid and advice cases handled in each year, the number of refusals and the cost to the Exchequer of providing the service. Applications on a county basis for 2010 and 2011 are also set out. The Deputy should note that this information does not include asylum cases.
In addition, I should point out to the Deputy that the Board's Annual Reports and Accounts are laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas each year and these reports contain a significant amount of information in respect of the services provided by the Board.
Civil Legal Aid 2002-2011
Year
|
Applications
|
Legal Aid Cases
|
Legal Advice Cases
|
Refusals
|
Exchequer grant in aid (million)
|
2002
|
n/a
|
10,070
|
3,530
|
251
|
€17.636
|
2003
|
n/a
|
9,439
|
3,504
|
219
|
€18.389
|
2004
|
9,509
|
9,065
|
3,462
|
117
|
€18.388
|
2005
|
9,153
|
8,896
|
3,336
|
125
|
€21.362
|
2006
|
9,688
|
9,471
|
3,683
|
114
|
€21.913
|
2007
|
10,164
|
9,390
|
4,525
|
198
|
€24.288
|
2008
|
11,888
|
9,017
|
5,900
|
282
|
€26.310
|
2009
|
14,073
|
9,032
|
7,138
|
245
|
€26.310
|
2010
|
17,175
|
9,344
|
7,288
|
288
|
€24.225
|
2011
|
18,657
|
9,492
|
8,333
|
316
|
€24.125
|
Note: Legal aid and advice cases do not constitute new cases in each year, but the total number of cases dealt with. Refusals do not include those deemed financially ineligible.
Civil Legal Aid Applications by County 2010/11 (non-asylum)
|
2010
|
2011
|
Dublin
|
|
|
Blanchardstown
|
246
|
298
|
Brunswick Street
|
330
|
537
|
Clondalkin
|
264
|
376
|
Finglas
|
326
|
384
|
Gardiner Street
|
563
|
767
|
Medical Negligence Unit
|
80
|
72
|
District Court Centre
|
2,205
|
2,064
|
Tallaght
|
390
|
323
|
|
|
|
Cork
|
|
|
Popes Quay
|
1,000
|
1,063
|
South Mall
|
1,198
|
1,274
|
|
|
|
Cavan
|
233
|
280
|
Clare
|
630
|
732
|
Donegal
|
563
|
640
|
Galway
|
735
|
851
|
Kerry
|
584
|
610
|
Kildare
|
1,005
|
946
|
Kilkenny
|
653
|
790
|
Laois
|
410
|
555
|
Limerick
|
553
|
613
|
Longford
|
310
|
358
|
Louth
|
303
|
380
|
Mayo
|
414
|
366
|
Meath
|
437
|
456
|
Monaghan
|
313
|
376
|
Offaly
|
394
|
381
|
Sligo
|
346
|
356
|
Tipperary
|
568
|
477
|
Waterford
|
494
|
562
|
Westmeath
|
553
|
524
|
Wexford
|
521
|
588
|
Wicklow
|
554
|
658
|
Total
|
17,175
|
18,657
|